EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF A FATAL CASE OF DIPHTHERIA IN A RESIDENT OF KYIV OBLAST
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31073/onehealthjournal2024-III-03Keywords:
diphtheria, epidemiological surveillance, diagnostic studies, immunoprophylaxisAbstract
Ukraine still has diphtheria. This infection is developed with toxins secreted by pathogens of three Corynebacteria species, such as Corynebacterium diphtheria, Corynebacterium ulcerans, and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis.
In January 2024, for the first time in recent decade, a fatal case of diphtheria in a resident of the Kyiv oblast was registered in Ukraine. The results of laboratory testing showed the toxigenic microorganism Corynebacterium ulcerans. The diagnosis was established based on the results of the pathological and anatomical autopsy and confirmed by laboratory testing during the examination of sectional samples. When a woman sought medical attention with certain clinical signs, medical care personal did not collect biological samples from the patient for testing on the causative agents of respiratory diseases of viral or bacterial origin, and the primary diagnosis did not contain information about the warnings of diphtheria. This indicates a low alertness of doctors regarding the possibility of the occurrence and spread of diphtheria.
The anti-vaccination attitude of the population and migration processes under martial law contribute to a decrease in the level of immunization in the Kyiv oblast and pose a threat to diphtheria outbreaks.
References
Atkinson W, Hamborsky J, McIntyre L, Wolfe S, eds. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (The Pink Book) (10 ed.). Washington, D.C.: Public Health Foundation. 2007: 59–70.
Dewinter, L. M., Bernard, K. A., & Romney, M. G. (2005). Human clinical isolates of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans collected in Canada from 1999 to 2003 but not fitting reporting criteria for cases of diphtheria. Journal of clinical microbiology, 43(7), 3447–3449. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.43.7.3447-3449.2005.
De Zoysa, A., Hawkey, P. M., Engler, K., George, R., Mann, G., Reilly, W., Taylor, D., & Efstratiou, A. (2005). Characterization of toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans strains isolated from humans and domestic cats in the United Kingdom. Journal of clinical microbiology, 43(9), 4377–4381. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.43.9.4377-4381.2005.
Keslin, M. H., McCoy, E. L., McCusker, J. J., & Lutch, J. S. (1979). Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. A new cause of infectious and eosinophilic pneumonia. The American journal of medicine, 67(2), 228–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/0002- 9343(79)90395-4.
Lamichhane A.; Radhakrishnan S. Diphtheria. National Library of Medicine. 2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560911/#.
Lartigue, M. F., Monnet, X., Le Flèche, A., Grimont, P. A., Benet, J. J., Durrbach, A., Fabre, M., & Nordmann, P. (2005). Corynebacterium ulcerans in an immunocompromised patient with diphtheria and her dog. Journal of clinical microbiology, 43(2), 999–1001. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.43.2.999-1001.2005
Mattos-Guaraldi, A. L., Sampaio, J. L., Santos, C. S., Pimenta, F. P., Pereira, G. A., Pacheco, L. G., Miyoshi, A., Azevedo, V., Moreira, L. O., Gutierrez, F. L., Costa, J. L., Costa-Filho, R., Damasco, P. V., Camello, T. C., & Hirata, R., Jr (2008). First detection of Corynebacterium ulcerans producing a diphtheria-like toxin in a case of human with pulmonary infection in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, Brazil. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 103(4), 396–400. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0074-02762008000400014.
Mills, A. E., Mitchell, R. D., & Lim, E. K. (1997). Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is a cause of human necrotising granulomatous lymphadenitis. Pathology, 29(2), 231–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313029700169944.
Nureki, S., Miyazaki, E., Matsuno, O., Takenaka, R., Ando, M., Kumamoto, T., Nakano, T., Ohkusu, K., & Ezaki, T. (2007). Corynebacterium ulcerans infection of the lung mimicking the histology of Churg-Strauss syndrome. Chest, 131(4), 1237–1239. https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.06-2346.
Prokopiv O V, Lyshenyuk S A, Karmazyn HM. Diphtheria requires attention: current state of the problem and own observations. J Infectious Diseases – Infektsiyni khvoroby. 2022; 3 (109): 24-30. doi:10.11603/1681-2727.2022.3.13478.
Prygiel, M., Polak, M., Mosiej, E., Wdowiak, K., Formińska, K., & Zasada, A. A. (2022). New Corynebacterium Species with the Potential to Produce Diphtheria Toxin. Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 11(11), 1264. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11111264.
Riegel, P., Ruimy, R., de Briel, D., Prévost, G., Jehl, F., Christen, R., & Monteil, H. (1995). Taxonomy of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and related taxa, with recognition of Corynebacterium ulcerans sp. nov. nom. rev. FEMS microbiology letters, 126(3), 271– 276. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07429.x.
Wagner, J., Ignatius, R., Voss, S., Höpfner, V., Ehlers, S., Funke, G., Weber, U., & Hahn, H. (2001). Infection of the skin caused by Corynebacterium ulcerans and mimicking classical cutaneous diphtheria. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 33(9), 1598–1600. https://doi.org/10.1086/322969.
Wellinghausen, N., Sing, A., Kern, W. V., Perner, S., Marre, R., & Rentschler, J. (2002). A fatal case of necrotizing sinusitis due to toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans. International journal of medical microbiology : IJMM, 292(1), 59–63. https://doi.org/10.1078/1438-4221-00186.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 One Health Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
